Overview
The Disabled Persons Protection Commission (DPPC) was established in 1987 by Chapter 19C of the Massachusetts General Laws. According to DPPC’s website, DDPC is “an independent state agency responsible for investigation and remediation of instances of abuse committed against persons with disabilities in the Commonwealth.” DPPC goes on to talk about its enabling statute on its website:
Pursuant to its enabling statute [Chapter 19C of the General Laws], the jurisdiction of DPPC includes adults with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 59, who are within the Commonwealth whether in state care or in a private setting and who suffer serious physical and/or emotional injury through the act and/or omission of their caregivers. The DPPC enabling statute fills the gap between the Department of Children and Families (DCF) (through the age of 17) and the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA) (age 60 and over) statutes.
DPPC oversees investigations conducted on its behalf by the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), the Department of Mental Health (DMH), and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC).1 DPPC also performs its own investigations to accomplish its mission “to protect adults with disabilities from the abusive acts or omissions of their caregivers through investigation oversight, public awareness and prevention.” The agency received 13,310 and 16,043 abuse reports requiring investigation in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, respectively.
DPPC consists of two commissioners and a chair, each of whom is appointed by the Governor. Reporting directly to the commissioners and the chair is the executive director, who oversees DPPC’s daily operations.
The commissioners and the chair must report directly to both the Governor and the Legislature by submitting audit summary reports to them annually. These annual reports include details about the actions DPPC has taken; the names, salaries, and duties of all employees; the funds disbursed; and any other pertinent matters relevant to DPPC’s jurisdiction.
DPPC is located at 300 Granite Street in Braintree. During the audit period, DPPC had 132 employees, which included, but was not limited to, directors, managers, intake specialists, oversight officers, and Adult Protective Services (APS) investigators. DPPC had state appropriations of $9.74 million and $11.70 million in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Abuse Reporting Procedures
According to DPPC’s chief of quality assurance and audit officer, DPPC operates a 24-hour hotline that allows people to report alleged abuse involving adults with disabilities. The majority of abuse reports that DPPC receives are submitted through this hotline. DPPC also provides the option to file reports by email, fax, or in-person means. Personnel members working on the hotline are responsible for receiving, documenting, and evaluating information about the alleged victim, the alleged abuser, and the nature of the incident.
When personnel members2 begin filing an abuse report in the Case Management System (CMS), the system automatically generates a report number and records the date and time. The risk of harm to an alleged victim is evaluated by the personnel member filing the report in the CMS, and based on this risk determination, the report is classified as either an emergency or nonemergency. After the personnel member makes the risk determination, they generate an intake number and the abuse report is assigned to both a DPPC oversight officer and an APS investigator from either DPPC, DDS, DMH, or MRC for further investigation. The CMS automatically calculates report submission deadlines based on the report’s screening date3 and emergency status. In addition, a member of the State Police Detective Unit reviews every abuse report to determine whether there is any indication of criminal activity in the allegation. If the State Police Detective Unit detects any such activity, then it reports this activity to the appropriate district attorney’s office for review.
Evaluation and Investigation Reports
According to DPPC’s chief of quality assurance and audit officer, if an abuse report filed in the CMS requires investigation, the assigned APS investigator conducts an investigation and then must file an Evaluation and Investigation Report. This report is composed of two parts: the first part is known as the Initial Response (IR) and the second part is known as the Investigation Report.
IRs
APS investigators use IRs to document preliminary facts that they gather from interviews with the alleged victim and/or the reporter and from visits to the site of alleged abuse. During the course of their investigations, the assigned APS investigator assesses further risks and documents both protective service recommendations and any further actions needed (if any). APS investigators must file IRs to DPPC’s Oversight Unit within the following timeframes after the abuse report screening date: 10 calendar days for nonemergency cases or 24 hours for emergency cases.
According to DPPC’s chief of quality assurance and audit officer, during the audit period, DPPC filed a total of 4,721 nonemergency IRs. There were zero IRs that needed to be filed as emergency cases.
Investigation Reports
The second part of the Evaluation and Investigation Report is known as the Investigation Report. This second part contains information that the assigned APS investigator gathers as evidence from additional interviews, additional documentation corroborating alleged abuse, and additional site visits, when necessary, to determine whether the alleged abuse occurred. The occurrence of alleged abuse is considered substantiated by an APS investigator when the evidence collected is sufficient to confirm that either an act or neglect by the alleged abuser resulted in serious physical or emotional injury to the alleged victim. Conversely, alleged abuse is deemed unsubstantiated by an APS investigator when it cannot be established by the preponderance of the evidence. Investigation Reports contain findings and appropriate protective service recommendations from the case’s APS investigator. APS investigators must file an Investigation Report with DPPC within 45 calendar days from the abuse report’s screening date. After the case’s APS investigator files the Investigation Report, a DPPC oversight supervisor determines whether the Investigation Report is complete and can be closed out in the system, warranting no further investigation.
According to DPPC’s chief of quality assurance and audit officer during the audit period, DPPC filed a total of 2,645 Investigation Reports.
Both IRs and Investigation Reports, when fully completed, are designed to ensure that each abuse investigation meets the minimum requirements of Section 5.02(1) of Title 118 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations.
Retaliation Investigation Reports
According to DPPC's chief of quality assurance and audit officer, an APS investigator examines claims of retaliation against people who file alleged abuse reports or participate in any DPPC investigations. At the completion of an investigation, the involved APS investigator files a Retaliation Investigation (RI) Report in DPPC’s Each RI Report contains relevant information that was obtained during an investigation, such as evidence from interviews with the alleged retaliation victim, alleged retaliator, and witnesses of the alleged retaliation. Documenting this information ensures that the involved APS investigator reviewed all evidence relevant to the investigation and helps substantiate any claims of alleged retaliation. The investigation and the initial RI Report draft must be filed with DPPC’s director of investigations by the involved APS investigator within 60 business days from its screening date.
According to DPPC’s chief of quality assurance and audit officer during the audit period, DPPC filed a total of 10 RI Reports.
Protective Service Plans
As part of the investigation process, DDS, DMH, or MRC may recommend a Protective Service Plan (PSP) when alleged abuse is substantiated through their investigations. The PSP outlines protective service recommendations, identifies individuals responsible for implementing those recommendations, states the proposed or actual start date of the recommendation implementation, and includes any additional information needed for DPPC to effectively monitor the implementation of recommendations.
According to DPPC’s chief of quality assurance and audit officer, if an APS investigator recommends a PSP, then the plan must be filed with DPPC no later than 30 calendar days from the date that the corresponding Investigation Report was filed with DPPC. The PSP can be filed through a variety of methods, such as including it as a note in the corresponding IR or Investigation Reports, sending it as an email or physical letter, or making it in a telephone call.
According to DPPC’s chief of quality assurance and audit officer, during the audit period, there were 341 filed PSPs that corresponded to substantiated reports of abuse.
Monitoring Policy
During our prior audit (Audit No. 2020-0046-3S), we found that DPPC did not always complete its investigations within the required timeframes. In response to one of our recommendations from that audit, DPPC implemented corrective actions. DPPC enhanced its monitoring policy that requires it to run monthly monitoring reports and send monthly notices to external protective service agencies that alert them of outstanding requirements. The policy also requires that, when a PSP is needed, it is documented in the IR part of the Evaluation and Investigation Report. In addition, DPPC also documents in each IR and Investigation Report the reasons for any filing delays.
Registry of Abusive Care Providers
DPPC established its Registry of Abusive Care Providers on July 31, 2021. According to Section 2(b) of Chapter 19 of the Acts of 2020, DPPC is to “establish and maintain a registry of care providers against whom the commission has made a substantiated finding of registrable abuse.” According to DPPC’s website,
The DPPC Abuser Registry . . . is intended to protect individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (“I/DD”) by barring care providers who have a substantiated finding of registrable abuse from working with other persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities. . . .
The DPPC Abuser Registry is not a public registry. This information is not considered a “public record” for purposes of [Chapter 66 of the General Laws] and all information regarding care providers listed on the DPPC Abuser Registry is confidential.
No later than October 31, DPPC must annually submit reports that update and summarize the contents of the registry to the clerks of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means, and the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. For more information on what details these reports must include, see the list of audit summary report requirements here.
According to DPPC’s chief of quality assurance and audit officer, during the audit period, DPPC added 69 individuals to the Registry of Abusive Care Providers.
| Date published: | June 30, 2025 |
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